Falcon Lair – The Former Estate of Rudolph Valentino

IMG_6156

Way back in December of 2009, I got an email from a fellow stalker named Todd who wanted to know if I had any information on Falcon Lair, the former Rudolph Valentino estate which he had heard was in the process of being torn down.  Amazingly enough, before receiving Todd’s email I had never before heard of Falcon Lair, nor did I know much about its legendary owner.  Rudolph Valentino, as it turns out, was the Brad Pitt/Johnny Depp – or, if you ask me, the Matt Lanter Winking smile – of his day.  The 1920’s Italian-born silent film star, who was dubbed the “Latin Lover” by the press, was so beloved by fans that on the day of his funeral in 1926 over 100,000 mourners lined the streets of New York near Saint Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church to pay their respects to the fallen icon.  So after reading Todd’s email, I immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place to see if it was still standing.  Sadly though, it was pouring rain on that particular day and I was only able to jump out of the car for a brief moment to snap the above photograph and could not poke around the property to see if the estate had been razed.  And even though the mansion had remained at the very top of my “To Stalk” list ever since, the GC and I did not make it back out there until two weekends ago.

P1070155 P1070149

Falcon Lair was originally built by Beverly-Hills-real-estate-developer George Read in 1923 and was purchased by Rudolph Valentino two years later for $175,000.  Valentino dubbed the property “Falcon Lair” in honor of The Hooded Falcon, a never-completed movie the film star tried to produce with his wife Natacha Rambova in 1924.  The isolated Benedict Canyon manse, which Valentino decorated with lavish antiques, fine art, and imported European furnishings, was to be the couple’s dream house, but sadly Natacha divorced him shortly after they moved in.  Sadder still, Valentino died from peritonitis less than a year later, on August 23, 1926, at the tender age of 31.  The estate was then sold and much of the land parceled off.  After a succession of different owners, Falcon Lair was purchased by heiress Doris Duke in 1953.  The reclusive Duke, who at birth had been dubbed “The Million Dollar Baby” thanks to her father’s extensive tobacco fortune, sadly passed away at the Lair on October 28th, 1993 at the age of 80.  Her death became a scandal when it was uncovered that Duke had not only made her butler, Bernard Lafferty, co-executor of her will, a job for which he was paid $500,000 a year, but that she had also bequested him a whopping $5 million from her estate.  Lafferty was eventually accused of playing a role in the heiress’ death, but those accusations were later proven unfounded.  In 1998, the Doris Duke Estate sold Falcon Lair for $2,294,000 and in 2003 the new owners began an extensive restoration and renovation project to bring the mansion back to its original grandeur. Sadly though, and apparently due to bureaucratic red tape, the construction was halted and the house put on the market shortly thereafter.  It was purchased yet again in 2006, at which point it was razed completely.  And with that another important piece of Los Angeles history was wiped away.

[ad]

ScreenShot433

During the time that Valentino lived there,  the 4700-square foot, two-level Falcon Lair boasted over 8 acres of land, 16 rooms, three master bedrooms, three baths, several fireplaces, a library, a detached four-car garage complete with a 120-gallon gasoline pump and upstairs four-bedroom servants’ quarters, a horse stable where Valentino kept his four Arabian horses, and extensive gardens filled with imported Italian trees.  Upon moving in, the star also had to construct a 9-foot cement wall surrounding the perimeter of the estate in order to keep out his more aggressive fans, who would often try to sneak onto the property.

P1070150 P1070151

Sadly, all that remains of the original Falcon Lair today are the front gates . . .

P1070152 P1070153

. . . and the former garage/servants’ quarters.

P1070156 P1070157

If you head away from the property by driving west on Bella Drive and then east on Cielo Drive, you can see the retaining wall that Valentino had built to keep out his trespassing fans.

Falcon Lair aerial view

And if you position Bing’s aerial map of the property facing south, you can catch a glimpse of the mansion before it was torn down, albeit not a very good one.

ScreenShot447

You can also see an aerial view of the backside of the mansion on fave website Virtual Globetrotting.

Falcon Lair stables

According to fave book Hollywood: The Movie Lover’s Guide, at some point in time the Falcon Lair stable was sold off and transformed into a private residence.  I was unaware of that fact at the time I stalked the place, though, so I unfortunately did not get any photographs of it.  An aerial view of the former stable/now house is pictured above.  You can read a more extensive history of Falcon Lair, as well as see some interior photographs of the estate, on the Rudolph Valentino Homepage website here.

ScreenShot434 ScreenShot435

ScreenShot436 ScreenShot439

ScreenShot437 ScreenShot438

Directly across the street from Falcon Lair is the absolutely AMAZING John Lautner-designed Schwimmer Residence, where the Carter family (Backstreet Boy Nick and his siblings B.J., Aaron, Leslie, and Angel) lived during the filming of their short-lived 2006 reality series House of Carters.  (I apologize for the crap-tastic screen captures, by the way.  Unfortunately, I had to get them off of YouTube, which is why they are so fuzzy.)

ScreenShot444 ScreenShot445

Sadly though, none of the Schwimmer Residence, which was built in 1982 and boasts 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and almost 6,000 square feet of living space, is visible from the street.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see that house!  You can check out some great photos of the residence on fave website Zillow here and on the Plan It Locations website here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Todd for asking me to stalk this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Falcon Lair, the former Rudolph Valentino estate, was located at 1436 Bella Drive in the Benedict Canyon area of Beverly Hills.  Directly across the street, at 1435 Bella Drive, is the Schwimmer Residence where the House of Carters reality series was filmed.  Rudolph Valentino’s former horse stables can be found at 10051 Cielo Drive, just down the road from Falcon Lair.  And just up the street from the stables, at 10066 Cielo Drive (formerly 10050 Cielo Drive), is Villa Bella, the mansion that was built on the site of the home where Sharon Tate was murdered.

The Schaffer Residence from “A Single Man”

Schaffer-House-A-Single-Man-5

A couple of weeks ago, I dragged my new husband out to stalk an architecturally and cinematically famous house located in Glendale at the base of the Verdugo Mountains – the John Lautner-designed Schaffer Residence which appeared in fashion designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man.  I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Gary from England, who immediately set about cyberstalking the residence after watching the flick back in February of this year.  And even though I’ve never actually seen A Single Man – I try to avoid any and all movies that have a depressing subject matter – because I am a HUGE fan of legendary architect John Lautner and because the house is simply gorgeous, I just had to stalk it.

Schaffer-House-A-Single-Man-1 Schaffer-House-A-Single-Man-2

Schaffer-House-A-Single-Man-3 Schaffer-House-A-Single-Man-6

The two bedroom, two bath Schaffer Residence, which was originally built in 1949, measures 1,698 square feet and sits on a heavily wooded quarter acre of land.  The home was constructed entirely out of steel, glass, redwood, and concrete and boasts an open floor plan with glass walls, which several websites have described as “transparent”.  Apparently being in the home makes one feel as if they are actually outside.  The house is so spectacular, that according to the John Lautner Foundation website, both architects Frank Gehry and Frank Escher consider the Schaffer house to be among their most favorite abodes ever created.  Sadly, though, as you can see in the above photographs, not much of the house is visible from the street.

ScreenShot5565

Nor is much visible from Bing’s aerial views, either.  🙁

ScreenShot5561 ScreenShot5562

 ScreenShot5563 ScreenShot5564

Thankfully though, the Schaffer Residence is currently for sale (for a cool $1,495,000 and as fellow stalker Gary said in his email to me, “I am saving as I type!!!!!”) and there are plenty of pictures of the property on its real estate website.  You can also check out some fabulous photographs of the interior of the home on the Big Shed website here.  As you can see above, the Schaffer house is a post-modern masterpiece, stunning in its detail, and with its wood, steel, and glass features, is very reminiscent of both the abode belonging to Sebastian Stark (aka James Woods) on the television series Shark and the residence where Ted Crawford (aka Anthony Hopkins) lived in the movie Fracture.

ScreenShot5570 ScreenShot5572

ScreenShot5574 ScreenShot5576

In A Single Man, which premiered last year, the Schaffer Residence stands in for the Santa Monica-area home of Professor George Falconer (aka Colin Firth), and both the exterior  . . .

 ScreenShot5568 ScreenShot5569

  ScreenShot5573 ScreenShot5575

. . .  and the interior of the property were used quite extensively in the filming.  When I skimmed through A Single Man earlier today to make the above screen captures, I was actually surprised to see how the home was portrayed onscreen.  In the movie, George’s house is very dark and dreary, which is ironic being that, in reality, a huge part of what makes the home so special and unique are the large plate-glass windows which bathe the interior of the property in an exorbitant amount of natural light.  As depicted in the real estate photographs and in all that I’ve read about the dwelling online, in real life the Schaffer residence is bright and airy – not at all how it appeared in A Single Man.  In fact, after seeing how it was depicted onscreen, I’m quite surprised that director Tom Ford chose to use the home at all in the movie.  I would have assumed that he’d want to film at a house that, at the very least, had less windows.  But what do I know?  😉  

ScreenShot5577 ScreenShot5578

ScreenShot5584 ScreenShot5585

The Schaffer Residence also made an appearance in the ultra-strange 2005 dramedy Happy Endings as the residence where Charley (aka Steve Coogan) and Gil (David Sutcliffe) lived.

On a side note – If you want to see photographs of the house where Charley (aka Julianne Moore) lived in A Single Man, you can do so on MovieShotsLA.

[ad]

ScreenShot5566

On another  side note – A Single Man director Tom Ford also just so happens to be the designer behind my girl Jennifer Aniston’s favorite sunglasses – the “Tom Ford Jennifer sunglasses” (pictured above).  Jen loves the glasses so much, in fact, that legend has it that Tom even named them after her.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to own a pair of those!  🙂 

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Gary for finding this location!  🙂

Stalk It: The Schaffer Residence from A Single Man is located at 527 Whiting Woods Way in Glendale.  You can check out the home’s real estate website here.

Bob Hope’s Palm Springs House

img_2086

While in Palm Springs this past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend – ahem, fiance (I swear, I’m never going to get used to saying that!) out to stalk Bob Hope’s former residence, which is located high up on a cliff at the very top of Southridge Drive.  I wasn’t so much interested in seeing the home because it had once belonged to Bob Hope, but rather because it was designed by famed architect John Lautner.  And I am absolutely obsessed with Lautner homes!  Once upon a time, I actually hated his designs – I thought they were just simply too weird.  But over the years they have really grown on me.  I love that all of his homes are so incredibly unique and recognizable.  One look at a poured concrete wall or a curving roof line and you know immediately if a house was designed by Lautner.  It’s no wonder that his homes have been used in countless Hollywood productions over the years including Charlie’s Angels, Diamonds Are Forever, The Big Lebowski, and Lethal Weapon 2.

img_2088

Not everyone is as big a fan of John Lautner as I am, though.  Legend has it that Bob Hope wasn’t exactly happy with the house that Lautner designed for him.   According to this article, Judith Lautner, John’s daughter, states that Bob “made life hell for my father.  He destroyed a lot of the thinking.  He just stepped in and said ‘No, no, no.'”   Legend also has it that Bob never even spent one night in the home, but instead used it solely for entertaining purposes.  The home, which was built in 1979 and was designed to look like the skirts of a volcano, measures 17,531 square feet, has 6 bedrooms and 9.75 bathrooms!

[ad]

img_2089

Unfortunately, Bob’s former home is located in a private, gated community, so I wasn’t able to get very close to it.  🙁  And, judging from the signs pictured above, the neighborhood is not very stalker friendly!  When I saw the sign which read “Trespassers will be photographed and may be prosecuted”, I was pretty much outta there!   Bob’s former community is very exclusive and was once also home to actors Steve McQueen and William Holden.  Lautner also designed another home – the Elrod House – just down the road from Bob’s, but, unfortunately, I didn’t realize that until after I got home, so I didn’t get any photographs of it!  Ugh, I am such a blond sometimes!

screenshot1003

screenshot1004

Because I couldn’t get very close to the house while stalking it, I had to settle for doing some cyberstalking as soon as I got home.    It’s funny, but in aerial images the home actually appears to be rather small, but rumor has it that the open circle cut-out in the roof is so large that a helicopter could actually land there!!  I don’t know if that is true or not, but being that the home measures almost 18,000 square feet, it is definitely a possibility!  Another rumor floating around about the former Bob Hope residence is that the shape of the pool was loosely based on the comedian’s profile.  So cool!  You can see another amazing aerial view of the home here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Bob Hope’s Palm Springs house is located at 2466 Southridge Drive.  The Elrod House is located just a few houses down at 2175 Southridge Drive.  Both are in a private, guard-gated community, so DO NOT trespass.  If you are into hiking, apparently the nearby Araby Trail offers some great views of both homes.

The Californication House

First off let me wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! 🙂 Now on to stalking! Yesterday, while doing some Venice Beach stalking, I visited a location I have long been obsessed with finding – the house from the David Duchovny series Californication. I have long been a DD fan – ever since I saw my first X-Files episode over 15 years ago I have pretty much been obsessed. So when my boyfriend got the Season 1 DVD’s of Californication a few weeks ago, I had to watch! Sadly, I have to admit that I don’t really like the series. But I did become a huge fan of Hank Moody’s ex-wife Karen’s home while watching. On the show Karen lives in a very modern style cement and wood home that is very reminiscent of James Woods’ house on the TV show Shark. It also has some of the same characteristics of John Lautner homes. So, I course I immediately became obsessed with it. 🙂 Luckily, while doing some cyberstalking I came across this awesome website which gave me the home’s location. YAY!

The home, which is known as the McKinley Residence, was built by architect David Hertz for his family and originally only consisted of the structure that is pictured above. The original structure consisted of two separate buildings, one in the front and another in the back, that were joined via a covered bridge. A few years later Hertz bought an adjoining lot and built the property’s second structure which also consisted of two buildings. Today the property is made up of a total of four buildings all surrounding an outdoor courtyard and pool area and connected via several enclosed bridges. David Hertz has designed numerous homes throughout the West Coast and has a strong commitment to only building “green” structures and protecting the environment. He is also the inventor of a building material called “syndecrete” which is a “green” cement based surfacing substance that is used in the building of many homes.

The McKinley Residence is a frequent filming location. Besides Californication, the house has been featured in Adaptation, Men, Women & Dogs and a Season 3 episode of CSI: Miami entitled “Murder in a Flash.” The house has also been featured in Dwell Magazine and Shape Magazine. You can see all of the projects this extraordinary house has been featured in here. You can also see some great interior photos of the home here. The McKinley Residence is an amazing home to see in person and I highly recommend stalking it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Californication house is located at 2420 McKinley Avenue in Venice.

Courteney Cox’s Former Malibu Beach House

img_1060.jpg

According to fave website Real Estalker, Courteney Cox and David Arquette have just sold their John Lautner designed Malibu beach home for a cool $33.5 million. I stalked this unique home a couple of years ago, back when I was trying to locate Jen Aniston’s beach house. I knew the Arquettes lived on Carbon Beach, the same small stretch of land where Jen’s house is located. While searching for Jen’s house, I passed by an extremely interesting home, unlike any I had ever seen before, and I knew it had to be the Arquette’s.

At first I thought the house was extremely weird and ugly, but I must admit it has grown on me. I am starting to really like John Lautner’s unique and dramatic style of architecture. His space age inspired homes have been used in countless movies, including Charlie’s Angels, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Lethal Weapon 2, Body Double and Diamonds Are Forever.

You can see pics of the inside of Courteney’s house here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Arquette’s former beach house is located at 22426 Pacific Coast Highway on Carbon Beach. While stalking that house, you can also stalk Jen’s former home, located just down the road at 22164 Pacific Coast Highway. The Arquette’s new home is located near Paradise Cove at 27460 PCH.